“I don’t have time to work out.” Have you said this before? Do you say this on a regular basis? If you answered “yes” or “ain’t nobody got time for that!” then please keep reading. I’d guess that most of us are “too busy” to (fill in the blank). Here’s the thing: if you want something badly enough, you’ll try to make it happen. Here are some tips to help squeeze in a little bit of fitness into your busy schedule. 1. Push-ups. These can be done practically anywhere and become easier to do with practice. I personally like to do about 10 push-ups as a pick-me-up if I’m struggling. Is 2:30 pm rolling around and you feel like you need a nap? Skip the gimmicky 5 hour stuff and do some push-ups. You’ll thank me later. 2. Planks and side planks. Great core work can be done anywhere. 3. Take the stairs. Yes, I know, you’ve heard this before. So do it! Not only is it terribly lazy to take an elevator up one or two measly flights (pet peeve, sorry), but it’s a waste of time. If you truly don’t have time to get to the gym, at least walk up a few flights of stairs. 4. Walk. Oooh, groundbreaking! Seriously, think of ways to increase your walking. In a new city? Walk instead of taking a...

“I’d be lookin’ to sue you.” I’m sorry, what?? That is what I heard from the mother of one of my patients. I was evaluating a high school athlete who had recurrent stingers (nerve injury that affects an upper limb, usually resolves with time) and a possible episode of transient quadriparesis (affecting all limbs this time). I wasn’t on the sidelines for these injuries, so I had to go on the reports given to me by the athlete and the school’s athletic trainer. However, with that information, I did not want to clear this player to return to football until I could be certain he didn’t have any cervical stenosis or any other abnormality that might put him at risk for permanent damage if he suffered another neck injury. I told the athlete and his mother that I needed to get an MRI of his cervical spine (neck) in order to determine this. The athlete was understandably upset with my decision, but his mother supported my decision to proceed with caution. She explained to me that if her son played again, sustained another injury, and something “bad” happened, she would be more than happy to take legal action against me. Fantastic. First of all, I can’t say that I would blame her for being angry (at the very least) if I screwed up. But to tell me...